New Braunfels crime author: ‘Stunned’ by Casey Anthony verdict

Renowned true crime writer Diane Fanning of New Braunfels, who has written the only book so far about the Caylee Anthony murder case, was “absolutely stunned” by today’s not-guilty verdict.

“I reviewed the evidence,” Fanning, author of “Mommy’s Little Girl,” which was published in fall of 2009 and praised by reporters covering the case, said in a phone chat from her South Texas home today. “And it told me that Casey was guilty. Duct tape was the murder weapon.”

Fanning, who has appeared on many television shows and news networks to discuss the case – most notably on “Nancy Grace,” which has been doggedly dedicated for the past couple of years to finding justice for the slain 2-year-old Caylee Anthony — said the jury’s decision said two things:

“1) If you hide the body well enough, you can get away with murder.” And

“2) That lies by the defense can obscure the truth.”

As for the defense lawyers’ contention that Caylee’s death was caused by her accidentally drowning in the family swimming pool and that Casey’s father George Anthony instructed his daughter to make it look like a murder, was preposterous. “There was no indication she was drowned,” she said.

She added that if the jury believed that story, they must believe that Casey’s father “is some kind of monster to not only make an accident look like a murder, but to frame his daughter for it.”

It also was shocking, she said, to see and hear Casey’s defense team “gloating” after the jury decision, attacking the media and other lawyers for their opinionating on the case. They could have communicated “a much more civil” reaction, she said. Fanning (in photo at right), who has lived in New Braunfels for 17 years and has many books under her belt, said her opinion when she wrote the book has not changed. “I definitely think she did it,” Fanning said of the 23-year-old mom when I first interviewed her back in late 2009. She said as much on a CBS “48 Hours Mystery” about the Anthony case. Fanning also was interviewed, she said, for an A&E biography show on Casey Anthony that she believes will air this fall.

As for the post-verdict reaction on Headline News, it was clear that the stance of just about every HLN pundit from Nancy Grace to Jane Velez Mitchell to Mike Galanos was a continued crusade against “Tot Mom” Casey. “Her death remains unavenged,” Grace raged.

Headline News, no doubt, has been the leader in Casey Anthony trial coverage these past couple of months, showing the proceedings live for a good part of its broadcast day.Nielsens show that it has been a sizable ratings boon for the 24-hour news network.

Something tells me that even now, after the verdict has been announced, the crusading will go on – and Headline News will continue to be, for all intents and purposes, CATV (Caylee Anthony TV).